Forced From Home is an outdoor reconstruction of refugee settings by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The exhibition on the global refugee crisis is open through October 23rd at the end of Long Wharf Park.
The exhibit aims to answer visitor questions about refugee settings. War has come to your home and you’re forced to escape. What belongings do you take? What obstacles and medical problems do you encounter on your journey? How do you start a new life when your notion of home no longer exists?
The public is invited to come face-to-face with the realities of the global refugee crisis. MSF aid workers take visitors through their experiences in the Middle East, Mediterranean Sea, East and Central Africa and Central America, among other regions.
With an MSF aid worker as their guide, visitors navigate the immersive exhibit as a refugee or internally displaced person (IDP) from Afghanistan, Burundi, Honduras, Syria or South Sudan.
Throughout the nearly 10,000 square foot exhibition, Forced From Home explores the reasons why people flee their homes, their journey to safety, their various legal statuses, the unique medical needs and housing challenges they face.
Visitors begin their tour by watching a 360-degree video that showcases the challenges refugees face and end the tour with an opportunity to watch one of three original documentaries in virtual reality, which highlight stories from individuals and families escaping crises in Syria, Honduras and Burundi.
Voluntary registration in advance allows guests to tour at their preferred time. If the tour time slot you want is marked sold out, you can still come and join the “walk-up” line. There are seven tours each hour.
Photos by Matt Conti. Click on image thumbnails to enlarge.
